IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/mktlet/v32y2021i4d10.1007_s11002-021-09576-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In the world of plastics: how thinking style influences preference for cosmetic surgery

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Mittal

    (St. Edward’s University)

  • Katherine Rice Warnell

    (Texas State University)

  • David H. Silvera

Abstract

The world of cosmetic surgery offers a variety of procedures designed to “enhance” specific body parts. While some consumers are adamantly against such procedures, others seem inherently drawn to them. What type of consumer is most likely to undergo cosmetic procedures? The current research examines whether individual differences in holistic and analytic thinking affect preferences for cosmetic procedures. Across 5 behavioral and eye-tracking studies, we find that analytic thinking increases openness to cosmetic procedures. Analytic thinking leads to a hyper-focusing effect that drives dissatisfaction with certain body parts, which increases the likelihood of endorsing and undergoing procedures to alter that particular body part. Marketing and consumer-related implications for these effects are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Mittal & Katherine Rice Warnell & David H. Silvera, 2021. "In the world of plastics: how thinking style influences preference for cosmetic surgery," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 425-439, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:32:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s11002-021-09576-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-021-09576-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11002-021-09576-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11002-021-09576-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huifang Mao & Xingbo Li & Kalpesh Kaushik Desai & Shailendra Pratap Jain, 2016. "Self-construal and feature centrality," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 781-789, December.
    2. Ashok K. Lalwani & Sharon Shavitt, 2013. "You Get What You Pay For? Self-Construal Influences Price-Quality Judgments," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(2), pages 255-267.
    3. Alokparna Basu Monga & Deborah Roedder John, 2007. "Cultural Differences in Brand Extension Evaluation: The Influence of Analytic versus Holistic Thinking," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(4), pages 529-536, December.
    4. Alokparna (Sonia) Basu Monga & Deborah Roedder John, 2008. "WHEN DOES NEGATIVE BRAND PUBLICITY HURT? The Moderating Influence of Analytic Versus Holistic Thinking," Working Papers 0044, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    5. Martin Eisend & Jana Möller, 2007. "The influence of TV viewing on consumers' body images and related consumption behavior," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 101-116, June.
    6. Lingjiang Lora Tu & Chris Pullig, 2018. "Penny wise and pound foolish? How thinking style affects price cognition," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 261-273, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. In-Hye Kang & Taehoon Park, 2022. "Cultural Differences in Consumer Responses to Celebrities Acting Immorally: A Comparison of the United States and South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 373-389, September.
    2. Shavitt, Sharon & Barnes, Aaron J., 2020. "Culture and the Consumer Journey," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 40-54.
    3. Leonhardt, James M. & Pezzuti, Todd & Namkoong, Jae-Eun, 2020. "We’re not so different: Collectivism increases perceived homophily, trust, and seeking user-generated product information," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 160-169.
    4. Koo, Minkyung & Shavitt, Sharon & Lalwani, Ashok K. & Chinchanachokchai, Sydney, 2020. "Engaging in a culturally mismatched thinking style increases the preference for familiar consumer options for analytic but not holistic thinkers," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 837-852.
    5. Wu, Ruomeng & Steffel, Mary & Shavitt, Sharon, 2021. "Buying gifts for multiple recipients: How culture affects whose desires are prioritized," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 10-20.
    6. Stuart Auken & William J. Ritchie & Ludmilla Gricenko Wells & Daniel J. Borgia, 2019. "Exploring thought processing similarity using attitudinal constructs: a Chinese versus U.S. contrast," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 13-23, March.
    7. He, Shutong & Blasch, Julia & van Beukering, Pieter & Wang, Junfeng, 2022. "Energy labels and heuristic decision-making: The role of cognition and energy literacy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    8. David Santos & Blanca Requero & Manuel Martín-Fernández, 2021. "Individual differences in thinking style and dealing with contradiction: The mediating role of mixed emotions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-16, September.
    9. Ryu, Gangseog & Kim, Boha & Park, Kikyoung, 2023. "Anti-counterfeiting advertisements for luxury brands in the post pandemic era: Roles of message type, visual presentation mode, and self-construal," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. Wang, Xuehua & Keh, Hean Tat, 2017. "Consumer susceptibility to cross-selling persuasion: The roles of self-construal and interpersonal harmony," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 177-184.
    11. Lingjiang Lora Tu & Chris Pullig, 2018. "Penny wise and pound foolish? How thinking style affects price cognition," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 261-273, June.
    12. Wang, Jessie J. & Lalwani, Ashok K. & DelVecchio, Devon, 2022. "The Impact of Power Distance Belief on Consumers' Brand Preferences," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 804-823.
    13. Oznur Ozkan Tektas & Canan Eryigit & Ozge Tayfur Ekmekci, 2017. "Does Thinking Style Affect the Impacts of Satisfaction and Reputation on Repurchase Intention? A Cross-National Comparison," Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 2(6), pages 4-24.
    14. Lili Wang & Zoey Chen, 2022. "The effect of incentive structure on referral: the determining role of self-construal," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(5), pages 1091-1110, September.
    15. Byun, Kyung-Ah (Kay) & Duhan, Dale F. & Dass, Mayukh, 2020. "The preservation of loyalty halo effects: An investigation of the post-product-recall behavior of loyal customers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 163-175.
    16. Osorio, María Lucila & Centeno-Velázquez, Edgar & López-Pérez, María Eugenia & del Castillo, Ernesto, 2021. "Authenticity, fit and product type: Testing a celebrity brand extension model cross-culturally," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    17. Pizzetti, Marta & Chereau, Philippe & Soscia, Isabella & Teng, Fangyuan, 2023. "Attitudes and intentions toward masstige strategies: A cross-cultural study of French and Chinese consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    18. Jeffrey R. Parker & Donald R. Lehmann & Kevin Lane Keller & Martin G. Schleicher, 2018. "Building a multi-category brand: when should distant brand extensions be introduced?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 300-316, March.
    19. Ashok K. Lalwani & Lura Forcum, 2016. "Does a Dollar Get You a Dollar’s Worth of Merchandise? The Impact of Power Distance Belief on Price-Quality Judgments," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(2), pages 317-333.
    20. Becerra, Enrique P. & Badrinarayanan, Vishag & Kim, Chung-Hyun, 2013. "Influence of thinking tendencies on online transaction of hybrid retailers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 336-344.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:32:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s11002-021-09576-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.